Experiencing Melbourne and beyond

My next trip takes me to Victoria, Australia. In fact, I’m already here… in Melbourne! I arrived yesterday after a 34-hour journey that took me from Amsterdam via London and Dubai and through to Melbourne with Royal Brunei Airlines. I arrived surprisingly fresh – there’s something to be said about booze-free flights! And my J-Pillow kept me comfortable throughout the trip. I have a few days to acclimatise and explore parts of Melbourne before I embark on a road trip to the western parts of Victoria. I’m really excited about a road trip around Victoria because I’ve done it before and loved it! Despite its relatively small size (it’s one of the smallest states in Australia), Victoria packs in a great variety of landscapes, historic towns and attractions, making it perfect as a road trip destination.

On my last trip in 2008, I drove along the Great Ocean Road, arguably one of the most spectacular drives on the planet, and one I’ll never forget.

I was literally blown away on my last road trip in Victoria!

This time around, my itinerary takes me west/northwest of Melbourne to amongst others, Ballarat (a historic gold mining town) and the Grampians, a spectacular mountain range. I’m especially looking forward to strolling around the town of Halls Gap in the Grampians – apparently, it’s common to encounter kangaroos, wombats, kookaburras and emus in the town centre! Along the way, I’ll drop by wildlife parks, the odd winery, gorgeous accommodations and historic attractions.

My first solo road trip!

This trip is part of the latest iambassador project in partnership with Tourism Victoria. I’ll be joined by my blogger pals, Sarah from Live Share Travel, Abi from Inside the Travel Lab, Paul from TravMonkey and Niamh from Eat Like a Girl. We’ll all explore Melbourne and the state of Victoria on individual road trip routes, highlighting its fabulous natural attractions, cuisine and gorgeous towns.

Follow me and my friends via the hashtag #MelbourneTouring (on Twitter, as well as on facebook and Instagram), as we discover Melbourne and what lies beyond this great city. I’m totally pumped to be out on the road on my own – thinking about it, this would be a first for me! Yes, it just hit me….. this would be my first solo road trip ever!! Wow! Can’t wait!

Royal Brunei Dreamliner 787.

A short stop in Brunei

On our way back from Australia, we will stop over in Brunei for two days to experience the attractions in this tiny country on the island of Borneo. From here, we will fly home on the inaugural Royal Brunei Airlines Dreamliner flight! Really looking forward to that as I’ve heard many great things about the Dreamliner inflight experience. Woohoo!

Haha, it would be hard to compare Brunei with Monte Carlo.There is some opulence: the Sultan’s palace, the mosques and some hotels, but the general population is very down-to-earth and modest. Hope my coverage will do it justice.

But if i have to be totally honest here… i am very curious to read your article about Brunei, that place always fascinated me for some reason, i associate it with “Monte Carlo”, as i’ve been there and it was a mix between a luxurious version of Disneyland for adults and a city that only exist in fairy-tales. And Brunei, in my imagination is exactly the same!

[…] features my drive through the gardens of the South East Touring Triangle, Keith Jenkins from Velvet Escape heads to the Great Southern Touring Route, the Grampians, Daylesford and Halls Gap, Niamh Shields […]